Black Beginnings
by blackozzy
Summary: The Terran's always thought that they were alone in the galaxy. There were wrong. This is a story of how one man manages to overcome the aliens when first contact is not made. Story is now complete. Hope you all like it.
1. Prologue

Starcraft: Black beginnings  
  
Prologue  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-14, 10:05 Alpha-663  
  
Everyone at base alpha-663 on planet Hizzan 6 knew something was up when the base went on to full alert. Sirens wailing at full blast deafening the soldiers that ran past them. The armoury was supplying soldiers with a wide array of weapons. Standard gauss rifles for the marines, flamethrowers and fuel backpacks for the close combat advanced troopers called firebats. Crews of trained troopers where running to their heavy siege tanks, and their light combat vehicles called Vultures. While pilots were locking themselves into their Wraith fighters.  
  
Base alpha-663 was heavily armed for a remote outpost, mainly because some one high up in the Terran ranks had the crazy idea that aliens existed and that they were hostile. Now this crazy guy was right, which is a shame as he was locked away and had the key thrown away. If anyone had decided that he could be right and paid more attention to his ideas, they may have been more prepared for what was about to happen, as it was no-one did and they never knew that this base existed.  
  
In the command center the commander had grown fat and lazy over the years. He never expected an alien attack to come and so didn't notice the blips on the command radar system until the aliens were almost half way to the base. Luckily the troops were well trained and were armed and in positions within minutes of the sirens going off. Base alpha-663 wasn't all that big, which was a good thing for the troops, as it meant less area to protect from an attack. It had a solid 15" think neosteel wall with one entrance facing the southwest. The planet Hizzan 6 was a barren planet with little vegetation and was the sixth planet in the Hizzan system, and so had very little light from the sun. This also made the environment very cold.  
  
Colonel Johnson was a battle hardened marine and was standing in the northern gun tower. He was watching the activity of the troops thought his combat helmets digital scope. He could see marines and firebats lining up along the top of the wall, while vultures and siege tanks placed themselves into a defensive position around the entrance. While the siege tanks deployed themselves into siege mode for long range attacks the vultures positioned themselves three to a tank to protect them as long as possible. He then zoomed his scope into the distance to where a large cloud of dust could be seen.  
  
He was not prepared for what he saw. Millions of weird creatures the size of a large dogs were running along on two powerful legs, with a very large mouth filled with rows of razor sharp teeth. Behind these things were larger 6-foot creatures that seemed to be moving themselves along on a large tail with what seemed to be short stumpy arms. Above all of these were creatures the same size at the larger creatures but had wings and were shaped like the letter "C". Colonel Johnson staggered back in shock. Whatever these things were they didn't seem at all friendly!  
  
Private Gordon had just received orders to fire at will. He looked though the scoop of the siege tank, and selected a target area that he hoped would cause a lot of damage to the enemy. The computer moved the barrel of the tank into position to the co-ordinates private Gordon had enter into the system. He then pressed the fire button, and he watched as loads of creatures went flying in every direction. To his shock the gap that he had created was suddenly filled with lots more creatures. He then knew that he was in trouble.  
  
Earth Orbit 2503-05-14, 16:03 Terran Space Station: Communications  
  
Paul had been working on the communication station for ten years now, and every day was the same. Monitoring all communications coming to and from Earth, most of these were just calls from people contacting relatives or friends. All of these were boring, and he was considering why he had been wasting his life here, again, when he received a number of distress calls that made him jump from his seat and contact his supervisor. 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Distress  
  
Mars 2503-05-15, 07:15 Main Military complex, northern hemisphere  
  
General Kixx had just finished reading the reports on the distress calls that had been picked up by the communications station in Earths orbit. He couldn't believe it; he had four reports, one about a scavenger ship being attacked by a large unidentified ship, two from outer border outposts that were nothing more than listening posts that had been totally destroyed, and one from a military base that wasn't on any records what so ever, and was heavily equipped with what had been the latest technology 25 years ago, and still it had been destroyed.  
  
He just didn't know what to make of it. The Terran Confederate Marine Corps was taking control of the matter and was sending in a Magistrate to deal with the problem over at the Mar Sara base. They seemed to be keeping a tight lid on everything. Well orders were orders, and they'd told him to forget everything. But first he wanted to tell an old friend. Then he'd forget.  
  
Somewhere in space. 2503-05-15, 07:34 Battleship Lightning  
  
"Commander Fisher!" Jason turned around, to see a young private running up to him. "What do you want, and make it snappy man." The private slid to a halt and saluted him. "An incoming message from General Kixx for you sir, it's got a high priory status, sir." Jason looked at the private for a minute and then started heading to the bridge at a fast walk leaving the private behind without dismissing him. The private watched him go round a corner and then bolted it back to the comms room. Jason walked onto the bridge and everyone stood to attention. "At ease men." He said as he walked past them into the briefing room at the back. The briefing room was round with a large communications device in the middle of the room. One chair sat in front of it, while there was a display screen for messages, and five video screens to allow for real time conversations. He sat in the chair and activated the adjutant. "Adjutant online. Good morning Commander. You had one new message from an unknown source that arrived ten minutes ago. Playing message."  
  
"Hey Fisher, long time no see. I've got some information that may interest you, which has the highest security level, which is why I'm sending you a message instead of speaking to you face to face. Three bases and a civilian ship have been destroyed by what is either one or even two different alien races. Attached to this message are the coordinates to a secret military base that even I knew nothing about. Good luck old friend." As he finished watching the message he clicked on the attached coordinates and sent them to helm control with orders to head to this destination.  
  
Jason wondered what he was getting into. Two possible alien races, appearing about the same time, and him, with no backup, but the latest and best technology that the Terran Confederate Marine Corps has to offer. The new Goliath units offer great land and air combat abilities and the new ghost soldiers where superior to anything else that the Terran Confederate Marine Corps had to offer. Still he had to wonder, will we survive or will we die at the hands of these aliens that are most likely more advanced than us. Fear was normal for any human, but for a soldier who has survived many battles even against the odds, it was almost a new sensation, and Jason didn't like it one bit.  
  
Hizzan system 2503-05-18, 02:41 Battleship Lightning  
  
"Sir, sensors pick up unidentified objects closing fast. They do not answer our hails. Eta 5 minutes" Jason was wondering if they would get a welcoming committee from the aliens. "What do sensors tell us about them?" "That's a negative sir. Sensors pick up no engine trails, or electrical signals from there computers." Jason sat down, he wasn't sure if his legs would be able to support him right now. What sort of things can create a fighter without and engine or any computer systems? Looking up he ordered, "Launch all wraiths. Lets give the bastards a taste of our weapons!" "Wraiths are a go, eta 60 seconds until contact."  
  
Jason sat and watched as his wraiths engaged the enemy, whoever they were. "Commander, pilots report that the enemy seems to be organic in nature, and fires some sort of acid based weapon from their mouths!" Oh god, what are they. No living creature could survive in space and yet here are some right now. "How are our men doing out there?" The guy at the sensor controls started reading the data that was coming though. "Looks like we've just won sir." A smile spreading across the comms face. Jason just looked at him and said "and our losses?" in a stern voice that quickly wiped the smile of the comms face. "We lost three craft, and they lost all seven, sir." Jason was wondering whether that was all the aliens had, or just a small taste of what to come. And then if that was all, where were the alien transports, or did the ground troops that destroyed a heavily armed base also travel though space. Sweat was starting to form on his forehead. "Ok, get the wraiths to dock, and set us into high orbit over Hizzan 6, NOW." Once in high orbit, Jason started to go over his battle plan again. He'd decided to send six dropships down, one with a squad of six SCV's, three with a squad of eight marines each, and the other two would carry two goliaths each. The goliaths would provide heavy support if they were attack while trying to establish a base.  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-22, 12:11 Sector 7-3-1  
  
The SCV's had established a command center and a barracks to house the troops who weren't on duty and a few supply depot to supply food and water, and were now collecting the necessary resources from near by to supply the base and so that a defence perimeter could be built. Jason was sitting in the command center watching what was going on via a satellite picture. The satellite had been released as soon as the Lightning placed herself into orbit to allow Jason to pick a desirable location to land. So far they'd been on the plant for four days and there hadn't been a single sign of any aliens anywhere. Jason was beginning to wonder if he'd been sent on a wild goose chase, but couldn't think why his old friend Kixx would do this to him.  
  
His scouts came back later that day, and reported that there was no other sign of life on this planet although they had found the remains of the base Alpha-663. Jason decided that the aliens must of left and his only problem was that where had they gone? Jason decided to see what the adjutant at the alpha-663 base had been able to record on the aliens. It was a long shot as the command center over at base alpha-663 had be damage during the attack. Still he activated the adjutant that his command center housed. "Adjutant online. Good afternoon commander. How may I help you?" "I want you to access the adjutants data banks over at base-663, and see what you can tell me about the aliens that attacked them."  
  
The adjutant when silent for a couple of minutes and then responded, "I'm sorry commander. The data banks are not accessible from here. You'll need to bring the data banks here to access them, sir." Jason looked out of a near by window. Well the scouts said that we were alone on this planet, so I'll take a small squad and go get the data banks myself. A grin spread across his face. It'll be nice to stretch the old legs he thought to himself. "Adjutant signal squad beta-5, their taking me for a little walk."  
  
Jason's battle armour was painted green to designate him as an officer of high rank. It also was made from a slightly more advantaged armour that would take a better beating in battle. His custom-made gauss rifle was designed to fire armour-piecing rounds, which made him a formidable foe in battle. Beta-5 squad consisted of four marines, 2 firebats and a goliath, for heavy support. Now Jason knew that his scouts could be trusted, but he also knew never to trust the enemy, and the scouts hadn't checked base alpha-663, so the squad was for protection if any aliens decided to pop up out of the blue to kill him.  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-22, 17:37 Base alpha-663  
  
Base alpha-663 looked at what could have been best described as a ghost town. Everything was quiet and Jason and beta-5 squad were slowly preceding though the remains of the base, trying to get to the command center at the centre of the base. The wind was picking up dust and blowing it around reducing normal vision, so Jason had ordered the squad to switch to infrared. After a few more minutes he could see the outline of the command center. It looked rather spooky in a deep shade of red from this distance. "Commander, we're now only 34 meters from the command center." The captain of beta-5 said. "Shall we still proceed with caution or shall we pick up the pace a little and get inside the command center before night fall?" Jason looked at him; he knew the men were afraid. And the dark would provide less protection. "Lets get moving, captain." 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Dark Encounters  
  
Hizzan 6 - Base alpha-663 2503-05-22, 18:02 Command Center  
  
The captain stayed outside in his goliath to stand watch, while Jason took control of beta-5. As Jason and squad beta-5 entered the command center Jason could smell the stench of blood that lingered in the air. The power was out, and the corridor was pitch black. Jason took a step forward and trod on something soft. Deciding to which to night-vision, he looked down and almost collapsed when he realised he was standing on the remains of a human arm, which was lying in a puddle of blood. One of the firebats took a closer look, "Sir, the arms still fresh!" The arm still being fresh didn't bother Jason; the fact that the rest of the body wasn't nearby was what was bothering him. "Spread out men, and keep your eyes open." "Sir, yes sir." The men of beta-5 said in unison. The firebats took point, being close- combat units, with the marines taking flaking positions as they moved along. Jason standing in the middle looking around him, searching for signs of live, and so didn't notice that the firebats had stopped moving.  
  
Stopping just in time, Jason barked. "Why have we stopped?" The firebat on the right turned to face him, then gestured above him. Jason looking up, and found what he had been looking for when he stepped on the fresh arm. The rest of the body was impaled on a lose metal bar fixed to the ceiling. The body was, in a way intact, because something had taken large bites out of the body. The bone could clearly be seen in the left leg, and the teeth marks on the bone, were large and deep. On the left shoulder the rank insignia could be seen, this man, or woman, had been a lieutenant. Jason motioned the men to move forwards, and taking one last look, at the body, Jason followed.  
  
Jason always considered that building all the command centers the same was a big flaw, but right now he was thankful as it meant that getting to the 'Adjutant' room, was easy to do. After taking a couple of corridors all looking the same they finally came to where they wanted to be. Jason when over to the main terminal and unhooked the data bank and put it into his backpack. "Ok squad, lets get moving. I want to know what's on this data bank, and if it will help us!" Beta-5 squad about faced and started to head back down the corridor they had taken. A noise stopped everyone in their tracks. Turning around Jason saw a strange creature borrow up from the ground. It was the size of a large dog, and stood on two powerful looking legs. Its sharp fangs glistened with slime. It shook the remains of the metal floor that it just borrowed up from and charged at them. A quick shot from Jason as his military training kicked in, filled it with lead. It fell dead to the floor be not before releasing a horrible screeching noise.  
  
The ground all around beta-5 squad started to shake as more of these creatures started to appear. "Commander, I don't know what you just did, but I'm under heavy fire from large snake-men things. I'm holding ground, but I sure hope you hurry up in there." Sweat was pouring down Jason's head, as him and beta-5 squad started to kill the aliens as quickly as possible. "There's to many of them, sir. We can't kill them fast enough." Panic was clearly visible in the private's voice. Jason looked at him and shouted "Ok men, lets make ourselves a path out of here, Firebats cover our retreat. Marines clear the way out. MOVE IT!" The men quickly followed their orders and they made quick time reaching the exit. Upon getting outside and sealing the hatch, they soon found themselves under fire from the aliens that the captain had reported. Opening fire beta-5 squad ran for cover, with Jason hot on their heels. The captain greeted them by giving cover fire from his heavy machine guns attached to either end of both arms. "Good to see you, sir." The Captain said. "Any ideas how we're going to get out of this mess?" he released two missiles which exploded near the snake- men things.  
  
"Only one captain." Jason reached for his radio. "Battleship Lightning, this is Commander Fisher." "Sir, Lightning here. What's you situation? Over." "Were in the middle of a very hot zone, and need a dropship with wraith support to pull us back to base." "Ok sir, eta 15 minutes. Good luck sir." We'll need it, Jason said in his head. "Ok men, we have 15 minutes to party with these abominations. Lets show them what were made of. Firebats cover our flanks, Marines take cover and fire at will. Captain move over there and give us some fire cover, the goliath armour should protect you. And I'll setup position with the marines. Now move it soldiers." Beta-5 squad moved quick and started showering the aliens in hot lead and missiles.  
  
"Commander, eta in 30 seconds, wraiths are engaging enemy ground troops. Clear us a LZ, sir." Jason looked around for a good LZ, and saw that the only spot was covered with the smaller aliens. "Firebats, I want those things barbequed, now!" pointing to the LZ he had picked. Marines fall back. Captain cover fire, and slow retreat." Jason got up and started running, and then heard a scream from one of his men. Turning around he saw one of the marines being hacked to pieces by one of the creatures, its teeth biting though the armour as if it were paper. "Holy Shit. Take that thing out men, and keep you eyes open!" Too late, another marine went down. Shit, I can't just lose men like this. The dropship landed behind him crushing one of the creatures and sending green blood and guts all over the place. "Everyone, into the dropship. Move it men." Jason and the firebats were first onto the drop-ship. Jason provided cover fire for the rest of beta-5 that wasn't dead.  
  
The Captain was at the base of the dropship trying to cover the last two marines. The wraiths were causing chaos until one exploded. Tiny flying creatures started to appear that exploded on contact. Fuck, Shit, Bastards. Jason wasn't happy, "we need to pull out now!" The last two marines just made it as one of the suicidal creatures, which just missed a volley of missiles from a wraith, flew into the right leg of the captain's goliath and exploded. The goliath fell backwards, without the right leg to support it, and the captain bailed out into the dropship. "Ok pilot, let's go." Everyone was thrown to the floor as the dropship pulled away, the remaining wraiths giving cover fire, before pulling out themselves.  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-23, 01:00 Sector 7-3-1  
  
Jason had just got back, he was tired and covered in green blood, but first he wanted to know if the two marines that hadn't made it had died in vain. Slotting the data banks from base alpha-663, Jason activated the command centers adjutant. "Adjutant online. Good morning sir. Did you sleep well?" Stupid computers Jason thought. "No, I haven't gone to bed yet. Issue commands to all officers to get there troops ready for an attack. Expect large numbers. Very large. Oh and I brought you the data banks from base alpha-663. Get to work. I'm getting some sleep." "Very well sir. Sweat dreams. I'll have a report ready for you by 1200 hours." 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - New Identities  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-23, 12:00 Sector 7-3-1  
  
"Ok adjutant. What have you got for me?" Jason said after walking though the door. He had managed to get a few hours sleep at least, but two hours ago reports of the creatures where filtering in from all squads around the base. They were surrounded and it was only a matter a time before they attacked. "Commander, I hope you slept well. It appears the commander of base alpha-663 had given each alien a name, and gave their race a name. Do you want me to fill you in, sir?"  
  
"Go on, the more we know the better the chance of fighting them." "Ok sir. The commander of base alpha-663 has called the alien race 'The Zerg'. They seem to be composed of different creatures that may of at some point in history been a separate race altogether. The first unit is the small creatures that appear most often. They have been called 'Zerglings'. They seem to share a genetic similarity to the dune-runners from the planet Zz'gash. The Zergling have a powerful jaw filled with rows of razor sharp teeth, which it uses to disembowel its enemy. Lucky for us while it can run really fast, it cannot manoeuvre well and has very little body armour and so can be killed really easily."  
  
"The next unit, which your troops called snake-men, have been called 'Hydralisks'. Snake-men is a very poor description for this unit, the only similarity to snakes are the long spiked tail, on which they move along, which makes them very slow as well. The torso of this creature seems to be made from a toughened exoskeleton. This makes them harder to kill than the Zerglings. At first glance any one would assume they are close combat units like the Zerglings, attacking units with their sharp blades attached to the end of their arms, but this is a grave mistake as the shoulders of this creature popup to reveal deadly spines, that are organically grown within the creature. These spines are released at such high speeds that they can penetrate 2cm of neosteel. Be warned Commander, these units can attack air units with deadly accuracy!"  
  
"Are we going to presume that these 'Hydralisks' are the backbone of the enemies forces?" Jason asked. "Yes Commander. When we learn more I will be able to create a better report for you sir. There is one last creature to report Commander. The suicidal creatures, sir." "Please continue Adjutant." "Very well sir. These suicidal flying creatures have been called 'Scourge'. The Scourge's sol purpose in life seems to be to create chaos by flying quickly into battle and exploding upon contact. They only attack air units, but if sent of course by enemy fire, will send them crashing into ground units. These creatures have no exoskeleton and so are easy to shoot down, if you can get a lock on them."  
  
"Is that all we could get of the data banks?" "Unfortunately the data banks were to far damaged to retrieve information on the creatures we meet in space, and other creatures that belong to the Zerg Commander." Dam Jason thought, we need more information. Send what data we've collected to General Kixx. He can present it to the Confederacy to help with their troops in battle." The adjutant went silent for a couple of minutes. "Data sent Commander. Oh the Captain over on the west wing reports that what was believed to be hostile units was only the native creatures. Other posts are still tracking enemy movements just on the horizon."  
  
That relieved Jason a little. They weren't totally surrounded like they first believed. "Keep in constant contact with all posts adjutant. I'm going to see about setting up some missile turrets to protect us better against these Scourge things." "Ok Commander. I'll relay any important information to you via the communications device on you arm." Jason just nodded as he walked out of the briefing room. Outside he called over the SCV's that were hanging around. There'd just brought in a large shipment of minerals, and were trying to steal a quick break. "Hey you guys, over here. I've got a job for the lot of you."  
  
The SCV's came over, some of them looking a bit unhappy, but upon see that it was the Commander that called them over, they tried to look a bit more dignified. "Can we help commander?" The leading SCV said. The SCV suit was a marvel of Terran technology. IT allowed the few civilians that came along a little protect from attacks, and allowed them to build and maintain the building within a base. It wasn't very pretty to look at though, being made of lightweight metals, which made the suit very bulky. But the powering of the suit allowed the person inside to lift objects of great weight with ease.  
  
"I want you guys to build me some of those top class missile turrets that you guys build." "Ok, sir. Where about would you like them?" Jason looked at the layout of the base. He wanted to ensure that any air attacks made at this base would be repelled. "Right, I want two of you to build four turrets around the command center, and the rest of you," Jason said looking at the remaining four SCV's, "I want you to build turrets ten meters apart around the perimeter of the base, as fast as possible. Any questions?" Jason looked at the SCV's around him. "Yeah, I have one." An SCV at the back said. "This project of yours is going to take a lot of minerals up. You sure you can spare them, Sir?"  
  
Jason gave the SCV a hard look, he would of given the man inside the hard look, but he couldn't see the mans face. The guy had a point though. "Yes I can. I'm pulling three SCV's of Vespene Gas duty to take over your duty on mineral collection. Now get moving." The SCV's turned around and started heading their separate ways to start construction of the missile turrets. It took a day and a half to build one turret. Jason prayed that the 'Zergs' would allow his men time to prepare before attacking. 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Uninvited Guests  
  
Hizzan 6 - High Orbit 2503-05-26, 03:31 Battleship Lightning  
  
The Battleship Lightning start to pickup strange reading of long-range sensors. Something big and unknown had just appeared at the edge of the system. First-mate Collins sent out a wraith over to identify the unknown object. "This is first-mate Collins to base-664. I need to talk to the Commander! ASAP" "This is the adjutant of base-664. Please state your reason for calling. The Commander is getting some hard earned sleep right now!" Collins hated the base's adjutants; they were stupid in their own little way. "Tell the Commander that we have possible enemy contact, and it's big!"  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-26, 03:56 Sector 7-3-1  
  
One of the many bad things about being a commander was being awoken in the early ours of the morning for what usual was a trivial matter. Jason walked into the briefing room of the command center, and the adjutant acknowledged him straight away. "Good morning Commander. I see your growing a bread." Jason scowled at the adjutant. "You stupid machine, I've just got up, and haven't had time to shave. How what's going on?" "The Lightning has reported possible enemy contact. Patching you though." An image of Collins appeared on the main screen. "Morning Sir." Collins said saluting Jason. "We picked up a large anomaly 25 minutes ago. It has just disappeared. But the wraith I sent to investigate it, report multiple enemy hostiles before being destroyed. It doesn't look good sir.  
  
It appears the Zerg on this planet were awaiting backup before assaulting us. Dam them. "Destroy them Collins. The Lightning should be able to hold them of. If not evacuate as many personal to this base at once. I'll have the SCV's build extra supply deports to house them. Commander out." The image of Collin's saluted then disappeared. If we lose the Lightning, we're not going anywhere soon, Jason thought while informing the adjutant to order the construction of the additional supply deports. Jason had been the commander of the Lightning for three years now, and had survived many battles with the battleship. It was one of the largest ships the Terran possessed. It could house 10 Battlecruiser's and 20 squadrons of wraiths. This made the Lightning extremely dangerous to fight against for any Terran ships, but alien ships were a different matter.  
  
Jason went outside, to stretch his legs, and to clear his head. The noise of a dropship approaching made Jason turn look up. He knew that there was no scheduled transfer from the Lightning to this base, and he'd just sent the Lightning into battle as well. Walking over to the LZ of the dropship, Jason watched as the hatch opened as he approached. A tall lean group of figures walked out, and saluted him. "Special Ops Captain Fawcett, and Black Ops Squad, reporting for duty sir." Jason looked at the squad. They were ghost units, to the bone. Dressed in black, with the latest in stealth equipment attached to various parts of their body. "Captain," Jason said, "why are you here?" The captain looked at him as if he'd just been insulted. "Why Collins sent us. He decided that you made need our expertise to help with the upcoming battle, Sir. He also said he didn't want us sitting on our backsides."  
  
Jason had to smile, his first-mate always was blunt, and to the point. Not very good officer material by the Terran Confederate Marine Corps standard, but in the middle of a battle you needed some-one like Collins. "Ok men. Barracks are over there. Make yourself at home. Captain, I want you and your men on scout duty. Those famous personal clocking devices of your will keep you nice and save behind enemy lines." "Yes Sir." The Captain barked back, throwing a salute and then herding his men to the barracks. Looks like we're going to stand a better fighting chance down here. He looked towards the sky, and prayed that his first-mate wouldn't damage his ship too much.  
  
Hizzan 6 - High Orbit 2503-05-26, 05:12 Battleship Lightning  
  
Collins was sitting in the Commanders chair. It was very comfortable, and he now knew why the Commander didn't like to leave it. Turning his attention to the screen in front of him, which showed the position of the enemy fleet. Large organic beasts were floating at the rear; they resembled some sort of troop carrier, although Collins couldn't figure out how the aliens could get inside of that. In front of them were some type of large flat creature. Long range fighters maybe Collins thought, and in front of them, were waves upon waves of weird flying creatures, that they had fought when they first entered the system. This scared Collins, he wasn't sure if he had the manpower or if his pilots were skilled enough to fight such a large fleet.  
  
"Launch all Wraiths and Battlecruiser's." Collins barked as the comms man gave the all clear to the hanger bays. The Wraiths were the first out, being the lightest and fastest ship. Equipped with light lasers and missiles, they were the best one-man fighters the Terran fleet had to offer. Next came the Battlecruiser's a lot slower than the Wraiths being at least ten times bigger, with heavier armour and two sets of heavy lasers. One set for ground bombardment and the other set for aerial assault. The Battlecruiser's had a special weapon as well. The Yamato Cannon was the latest in Terran technology, with enough power to destroy large areas or heavily armoured ships in one swift go.  
  
Now all of these ships could not match the power of the Lightning. Being one of a few built, they were the pride of any Commander to earned one by proving to the Terran Confederate Marine Corps, that they excelled in battle, and could bring most of their troops back alive. The Lighting had six large forward laser cannons, two rear medium laser cannons, air-to-air missiles and two Yamato Cannons. This ship was built for battle, and little to nothing was known to be able to stop them. Collins hoped that the Zerg fleet couldn't either. "Tell all units to lock-on and engage the enemy, and also bring us around to combat position. We're going to teach the Zerg a thing or two about us Terrans!" 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - Hard Decisions  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-26, 12:00 Sector 7-3-1  
  
Commander Jason Fisher, hated military rations. Being a high-ranking officer entitled him to proper meals, unless he was in the middle of a war, and proper food rations were out of stock. Basically the current situation he was in right now. Those bloody Zerg! He thought to himself while forcing himself to eat the military rations in front of him. "What could they be waiting for? We have no air support now that the Lightning is engaging the incoming enemy fleet, and we're running on basic military rations!" Jason said to himself. The supply depots could only do so much, compared to the special organic environmental station aboard the Lightning. Which was designed to grow organic foods, plants and animals in special chambers, in a matter of minutes.  
  
A knock on his door brought Jason back down to earth, technically speaking. "Enter" Jason said. Captain Fawcett walked though the door and saluted him. "After-noon Captain." Jason said, " come to join me eat my dinner?" Jason said in a lighthearted voice. Fawcett smiled briefly, "No sir. My squad report that the Zerg have amassed over thousands of units around us sir, except to the west which is still occupied by those strange native creatures sir." Jason thought for a minute before replying. "This would mean that they have a base somewhere on the planet. But my scout reported no signs of a base when they scanned the planet when we arrived!" Jason said in a slightly worried tone.  
  
"That would be the logical conclusion, sir. There also the fact that there wasn't any units either, yet now they're everywhere." He had a point, bloody special ops, always thinking with their heads. "Ok Captain, any idea, where the enemy base has appeared then?" The look on the Captain's face before he replied suggested that the captain had an idea. "Yes sir. My men are very good, and already have scouted selected areas, which would best support a base. And even found something very interesting." Jason raised an eyebrow. "Oh, pray tell me more Captain." "Over to the far east my scouts came across something strange. The ground was a deep purple, and seemed to be alive sir." Jason jumped to his feet. "What do you mean alive Captain?" "Its hard to describe but it seems to have a pulse, and after exploring this anomaly, one scout found a large living structure, that was producing lava like creatures."  
  
Now Jason was beginning to wonder what the Special Ops Squad ate for a living, to be seeing such weird and crazy things. First living ground, and now living structures! But Jason was a reasonable man, and so before accusing the Captain of seeing things inquired further. "So what are you telling me Captain?" The Captain wasn't stupid and knew what the Commander was thinking, and had come prepared for such a case. Pulling out a data disk, he said. "If you would care to follow me to the briefing room Commander, I'll show you what I mean." So following the Captain, Jason and Fawcett were soon in the briefing room, and the adjutant greeted them both. "Afternoon gentlemen, how may I help you?" "By shutting up, and display the information on this disk to the Commander." The Captain barked at the adjutant.  
  
Jason sat down, as the display screen flickered. Then a picture appeared of the living structure that the Captain was telling him about, appeared, and Jason could see for himself that the Captain had been telling the truth. The weird purple mass that the structure sat on did indeed seem to be alive, and it moved every now and then. As Jason watched as a lave crawled out of the structure and started to crawl around, until it settled. It then proceeded to construct a cocoon around itself. "This is most interesting Captain." Jason said, "but I fail to see the important of it." "Just watch commander, all will be revealed." Jason turned his head back towards the screen just as the cocoon cracked in two, and two of the Zergling units popped out.  
  
"Ok, how fast were you fast forwarding it Captain?" Jason asked, despite that he knew the answer, but didn't want to accept it. "Not at all Commander. But then you already knew that." The Captain smiled. "Ok, so how what do you suggest I do then Captain?" The Captain turned around so that Jason couldn't see his face. "There's only one option for us, to combat the Zergs ability to mass produce units in such a short time, and that is to do the same." Jason now knew why the Captain had turned around. Even the idea to use the cloning vats in the barracks was enough to turn a mans face pale. "Ok, captain, I want clones of our best men. That includes clones of your team." The Captain nodded, he didn't like the idea, but what other choice was there. "Permission to leave, sir." "Granted Captain, and I know how you feel. I don't like the idea myself."  
  
Down in the barracks the scientists in charge of the cloning vats, had a stiff shock, when order to activate the cloning system. They knew that the activation of the vats meant only one thing. A heavy attack was expected, and it was going to be big. To big for the current amounts of troops. Entering the password, which would stop anyone activating the vats without permission, the lead scientist started the processes of starting the vats up. While other scientists collected DNA samples from the troops sent by the Captain. These select few troops weren't sure what to feel. Being selected meant they were the best, and that meant pride, but the idea of being cloned was one to be greatly feared. "Hold still man, this wont hurt." A scientist said to one troop who was starting to panic.  
  
The whole process of cloning a soldier only took ten minutes, but standing there watching your clone, grow bigger, and having your neural brain transmissions copied and transferred into the clone wasn't a pleasant one. Thankfully for the troops the neural transaction only needed to be done once, and so as soon as the first one was done, the troops would run as fast as possible, back to their positions along the defence perimeter. The Commander was going to use the clones to strengthen their defences, and use the rest to mount an attack against the Zerg base. "Commander," the adjutants voice came over his communications device on his arm. "Reports are coming in of Zerg units approaching fast." God save us, Jason thought. Ok maybe the clones would be used for a counter-attack instead. "Tell the troops to fire at will, reinforcements are being cloned as we speak!" 


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - Tides of Destruction  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-26, 17:26 Sector 7-3-1  
  
Troops were running all over the place. Getting into defence positions, and turning their weapons safety off. Firebats were getting into position on the ground near to the entrances, while marines were positioning themselves along the wall, and anything they could hide behind. The siege tanks were setting up position to launch powerful long-range attacks at the incoming Zerg forces. Vultures were protecting the siege tanks, that would allow the tanks to chance back into tank mode when the Zerg got to close. The Goliath units were marching forwards, taking flaking positions for the marines and firebats, they would also provide the main firepower against air attacks. Bunkers were being built in strategic positions to allow the marines and firebats better protection against income attacks. The ghost units were using their clocking devices to cover themselves, and got their powerful rifles ready.  
  
Commander Fisher was in his quarters, suiting up in his battle armour, and grabbing his customised gauss rifle and ran outside to see the mass of troops getting into position. He watched as clones ran out of the barracks fully equipped. Jason figured that the replicators were working over time, to produce enough armour and weaponry for the clones. The factory that had been built recently was already mass-producing vehicles for the clones that needed them. If we're going to die, we're going to take as many of those son-of-bitches as possible. Spotting Captain Fawcett across the yard, Jason walked over to him. "How are your new recruits looking Captain?" the Captains face grimaced, "Just fine Commander. Their backing up your troops, the Zerg wont see them till its too late." At this statement the Captain managed a quick grin.  
  
Turning to face the entrance Jason could see the dark mass of Zerg units charging the base. "How long till they're in range of our weaponry?" The sound of siege tank fire answered his question as he was almost knocked of his feet in surprise. "Those Zerg sure do move fast." The Captain said, who hadn't been effected by the cannon fire. More barrages of cannon fire were released, sending Zerg units flying in every direction. Using the digi scope in his helmet, Jason took a good luck at what faced them. He could see Zerglings running up front, behind them, Hydralisks, but there was something behind them. Large elephant like creatures were slowing moving along on large power legs. What worried Jason the most was the large razor blades attached to the front of the beast. Pointing to them to the Captain, he said. "We could have trouble, Captain. I wont your men to take them out as best they can." Turning to face the Commander then, to look at what Jason was pointing at, the Captain suddenly broke into a run, calling for his men to deploy around him.  
  
Jason watched him go, then ran himself to the entrance of his base, to take position by the tanks to get as many pot shot at the enemy before having to retreat into the base. Kneeling down, Jason took aim; the device on his rifle told him the distance of the enemy he was pointing at. As soon as that figure turned green, Jason would open fire, and take as many of the creatures apart as possible. Jason opened fire, the vultures around him launching grenades at will, while the tanks un-deployed for close combat fire. Marines along the walls started to open fire, firebats were running to greet the Zerg, with a warm welcome.  
  
Hizzan system - close to Hizzan 6 2503-05-26, 18:42 Battleship Lightning  
  
While Jason was combating the Zerg forces on the ground, Collins was battling the Zerg in space. He had lost 51 Wraiths already, and one Battlecruiser, but the enemy had taken a bigger beating. The difference was that the Zerg had a lot more units to fight with, and so could afford to take a heavy beating. "Sir, we're just had a breach in the lower decks. Sealing the areas off." Collins didn't like this. If he lost the Lightning to the Zerg, Jason wouldn't be at all happy. His only consolation was that if the Lightning blew up, Jason wouldn't be able to kill him. It was bad enough that Jason would frown upon the damage, but at least he'd still have a ship.  
  
The scourge units didn't bother him much, they were easy to kill, and the armour off the Lightning was holding out against any that got though. The flying 'C' shaped creatures were becoming a pain, with their ability to attack three targets at once. But the largest problem were the flat creatures. His estimation of them being long-range attack was right, and they packed a punch and a half. He had ordered the Wraiths to take out the scourge and 'C' shaped creatures, while the Battlecruiser's were ordered to blast their way though the enemy ranks towards the flat creatures and take them out. The Lightning was providing cover fire, and taking out any of the troop carrier units that got passed. He prayed that Commander Jason was getting on better.  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-26, 18:59 Sector 7-3-1  
  
They were getting to close for comfort. Jason had already pulled back, and was retreating to some cover. The tanks were providing cover fire, for retreating units, by using their turrets while retreating themselves. Two vultures and 20 firebats had already been killed, and reports from the SCV's had stated that mineral supplies were running very low, and that they were having to travel out near to the native creatures to get more. The trek was taking to long, so Jason had ordered them to build a secondary command center, which had been suggested by Captain Fawcett, to stockpile the minerals faster, and also offer a place of retreat if this base was lost. Problem was if they could hold this base, would they be able to hold that one? Jason shook his head, and continued to fire.  
  
The scourge units had started to appear, but with no air units belong to the Terran forces, Jason had order his men to ignore them. "They can only attack air units," the adjutant had said, and he was glad that the stupid machine had been right. "Commander, this is Captain Fawcett. We're in place to do some serious damage to the large creatures at the back. I need confirmation to use the mini-nukes that the second command center has been producing." Jason knew there must have been a reason behind backing up the construction of a second command center. "Ok Captain, but be careful. I don't want any unnecessary casualties among your men." "Roger that Commander. Captain out."  
  
Jason was remembering what he had been told about the mini-nukes, while taking pot shots the any Zerg unlucky enough to be in his line of sight. "The mini-nuke, is a great tactical advantage to any commander, who uses them right. While they can only be fired using the guided sight of the ghost unit, they well destroy everything in their blast radius. The blast radius is small and it is not advised to use them against moving targets. This would require knowing where the moving target will be in the time it takes to launch the mini-nuke." The scientist who had created the mini-nuke had told everyone at the meeting. A Hydralisk had just fallen from a direct hit to the head, from Jason's rifle.  
  
"How many are left?" Jason said to himself. They must of killed over a thousand by now, and yet they were still coming, when 3 large blasts came from the rear of the Zerg attack force. The ghosts had managed to kill most of the large creatures, but a few had got away. Those that had got away were closing in on the nearest Terran troops. A firebat shot a large fireball at it, but only managed to mark it, as he was squashed under the foot of the creature. A tank had got up close and was firing as fast as possible, blowing large holes into the creature. It when down hard and shook the ground around it, as it hit the floor. The tank turned onto another of the large creature, only to be sliced in half by the large razor sharp blades attached to the creature. The trooper had survived, being missed by cm's by the creature. He jumped out and started to run to base, only to be shot down by a Hydralisk. The troop tried to get up, screamed in pain and then died.  
  
Looking on at the onslaught that was reaching his position he decided that running for cover over by the command center wouldn't be a bad idea. Getting up, he started running for the command center. Feeling a jolt of pain in his left shoulder, Jason looked at a spine from a Hydralisk sticking out of his shoulder. He keep running trying to avoid be hit again. The pain was only just bare able, getting into the command center, Jason pulled the spine out, and grabbed a nearby medi kit. Taking off his torso body armour, Jason started to bandage the wound that was leaking blood, all over the floor. "Those fucking things are going to pay for this" Jason said aloud to himself, while putting his armour back on. 


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Aftermath  
  
Hizzan system - close to Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 02:13 Battleship Lightning  
  
Collins was trying to decide whether the diminishing numbers of the Zerg fleet was because they were winning, or because the Zerg were in retreat. There was always the third possibility that the Zerg were using some sort of tactic to lure them into thinking they had won, then hit them hard, before they knew what was going on. Well right now it didn't matter Collins thought. I'm going to beat these bastards raw them, send them to whatever hell dimension they believed in. The forward cannons fired and tore apart three more of the flat creatures. The rear cannons took out a transport creature that had managed to creep past.  
  
"Status Report." Collins bellowed out to the near by tactical officer. "We're down to three Battlecruiser's, and 100 wraiths, Sir." Collins thought about this for a moment. They'd taken a beating and so had the enemy. "How about those things out there?" The tactical officer turned to look at his screen. "They've taken heavy losses sir. Looks like were going to win this sir." Right to work. "Lets finish them off. Order the wraiths to cloak and swing around the back, and catch them off guard. We're going to distract the, with the help of the remaining Battlecruiser's.  
  
The pilot in one of the wraiths received the orders Collins had just issued out. Hitting the cloak, he fell into formation with what was left of his squadron. They flew round the Zerg fleet and went into the attack, when two wraiths were destroyed either side of him. "How the fuck?" the pilot said to himself, as he pulled an evasive manoeuvre and was missed by inches. "Battleship Lightning, this is Wraith Omega 7. These bastards can detect us while we're cloak. We're goin....." That was all he was able to transmit before being blasted to millions of atoms by a lucky flat creature.  
  
Collins watched in horror as his well-planned attack fell into shambles before him. Dam them, how did they detect the cloaked Wraiths? "Ok then, all combat units, attack at will! Take those bastards out NOW!!!" The forward cannons opened fire, and tore though four of the 'C' shaped creatures. The Zerg fleet was falling. We're going to win Collins thought. At that moment a scourge had managed to get past the ships defends and flew up the rear engine. Upon reaching the fuel tanks it exploded. The explosion sent Collins flying forward and he hit the main screen. Try as he may, he just couldn't stand up, and then a secondary explosion sent a large metal beam towards his head. For Collins everything just went black.  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 04:00 Sector 7-3-1  
  
The Zerg had been repelled. But at a great cost, hundreds of troops were dead. Jason wondered how many of his original men had survived, or if he only had his clone soldiers left. If they ever got out of this, Jason was going to have to write a lot of letters to the families of the now dead troops that were under his command. Captain Fawcett walked over to him, stepping over dead bodies as he went along. The Captain saluted Jason, and Jason returned it. "Captain," Jason said, "How many men have you lost?" The Captain looked at the sky. "Only six men. Five of the, were clones, so that puts me, seven soldiers up, from the start of this battle." Lucky devil, Jason thought to himself. "Can I ask how many you have lost, Sir?" The Captain asked glancing a look around him at the war torn bodies lying all around them.  
  
"At least 500 odd, the bodies are still being counted. And don't even ask how many clones are in that list. I only started out with a squad of 200 men!" Jason's face was downcast. The wound in his shoulder, hurt like fuck, and he'd only just managed to survive. "Captain, I want you to oversee the cleaning up, and then get this base back to full military status. I want to hit those bastards hard, and where it hurts! Get your men onto finding a weak spot. ASAP Captain." With that Jason headed to the med bay, to have his shoulder healed.  
  
Hizzan system - close to Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 04:01 Battleship Lightning  
  
Collins woke up. It was pitch black, and he wondered how he had survived, and why there were no lights. He tried to sit up, but a hand placed itself on his shoulder and told him to lye down. Collins recognized the voice to be the ships doctor. "Hey Sam, why's it so dark?" Collins asked the doctor. "Because a large metal beam smashed into your face. You were lucky that some wiring stopped it from crushing your skull when it did. Both your eyes have been damaged beyond repair. I'm sorry sir." The full realisation of this hit him. "Oh dear god. At least tell me that the ships still in one piece, and we won." The sound of the doctor moving reached Collins ears. "Yes to both those questions sir. If we ever get back to Earth, you'll be called a hero, and allowed to retire a rich man."  
  
Collins wasn't sure if this was a good thing. How many had died out there, while he'd been able to survive. And then he wasn't sure if he'd survive the trip back to Earth if the Zerg showed up again. "Can I have a status report on the ship please?" The sound of a door opened. "Yes, he's awake. He just requested a status report." That was the doctor's voice. "Ok, I'll have the tactical officer bring it down, ASAP." That voice he didn't recognize. "Sir, the sergeant on duty is sorting your request out now. You'll just have to be patient." Collins nodded his head, and tried to rest. After ten minutes the door opened again, and Collins heard steps as someone walked up to him.  
  
"Sir, I have the report you requested." A voice said. "Well read it out then man. As you can see I'm not able to!" Collins spat at the person. The voice replied, a little shaken. "The Lightning has taken heavy damage to the engines, so we'll not be able to go anywhere soon. The main weapons are offline and 20 of the 45 decks are sealed off due to hull breaches. Sir." That wasn't good. Jason wasn't going to be happy, but at least his ship was still in one piece. "Can we land on the planet man?" Collins asked. The only way they we're going to survive, was by repairing the ship on land. "We should be able to sir, though it will be rough due to the holes in the hull sir, and with the engines down, we're going to have to make a crash landing." Collins thought about this. "Inform the Commander what we're going to do, and to meet us. Then commence with the landing."  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 04:42 Sector 7-3-1  
  
"Commander," the adjutant opened a comm link with Jason. Jason sat up on his bunk. "What is it adjutant?" "Sir the Lightning reports success in defeating the Zerg fleet in space, but they've taken heavy damage and are forced to make a crash landing near by." "What the Fuck do you mean a crash landing? What is Collins thinking?" Jason shouted at the adjutant. "I'm coming down to the briefing room." Jason, jumped off his bunk, and legged it down to the briefing room, knocking over two people on his way. Jason burst into the briefing room. "Good morning Commander. The acting sergeant on board the Lightning is waiting on line 2. Patching him though now." Jason took a seat as the picture of a young man appeared on the screen. The image saluted, "Where is Collins man?" Jason asked.  
  
"Sir, Collins has received heavy injuries after a scourge flew up the rear engine tube. He has lost both his eyes sir, and is in sickbay at the moment." Looks like he's lost more than his eyes if he's going to crash land my ship! "Ok now fill me in on the situation and I'll see if I can understand the reasoning behind crash landing 'my' ship." The sergeant explained everything that had happened and why they were going to crash- land the ship. After a couple of silent minutes Jason said. "Ok, crash land my ship, but be careful. If you destroy it upon contact with the ground, you better hope that you die there and then. Commander out." The figure saluted, with a worried look in his eyes, then the image disappeared. 


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Old friend, new job  
  
Hizzan system -Hizzan 6, High Orbit 2503-05-27, 06:00 Battleship Lightning  
  
"Ok sir. Were about to enter the atmosphere." Collins had been taken to the bridge, against the doctors will, and had been strapped into the Commanders chair. "Ok, lets start the decent. The Commander will be waiting for us."  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 06:05 Sector 7-3-1  
  
"Commander, everyone is in place. We only await the arrival of the Lightning." Captain Fawcett said. Jason looked at him. "Very good, Captain." Jason looked around, the area had been picked because it was close to the base and there was no uneven ground, or vegetation. This would offer the Lightning the best chance of survival, considering the damage it had received, Jason wasn't sure it would survive anyway. The two remaining Battlecruiser's, had pushed the lightning into position in the atmosphere, and would place themselves under it, as they tried to keep the Lightning steady. At the last moment both Battlecruiser's would remove themselves from under the Lightning and let it fall to the ground. This would be done as close to the ground as possible to minimise damage.  
  
Looking up into the sky, Jason could see the outline of the Battleship Lightning. Repairs would take forever, and with the Zerg still present on this planet, even longer. As the Lightning entered the low atmosphere, Jason could see the two Battlecruiser's that were settled underneath the Lightning. Compared to the Lightning the Battlecruiser's were tiny. This made Jason smile; his ship was coming down to him. Closer and closer they came down, the Battlecruiser's trying to keep the Lightning balanced on top of them. When the Battlecruiser's were 15 meters of the ground, they hit their thrusters, and pulled themselves away from the Lightning. Two seconds later the Lightning dropped, and Jason turned his head away in fear.  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 06:12 Battleship Lightning  
  
Collins may now of been blind, which luckily allowed him not to watch their freefall for the last 15 meters, but the tension on the bridge could have been cut with a knife, and you didn't need you eyesight to notice it. Collins could feel the affects of gravity as the Lightning dropped and the impact shook everything. Collins hoped that another beam would become loss and fall on him. He wouldn't be able to see it, but he wanted to live. He had a family back on Earth, and he hadn't seen his wife for over three years now. Someone walked up to Collins; "Sir, are you alright?" came a concerned voice. "Yes, I am. Can someone untie me now, so I can greet the Commander, and hand, what's left of his ship, back to him?" Collins heard a few chucks come from somewhere, but he was untied and directed to the main exit hatch on the side of the Lightning. "Collins!" Jason said in shook. The sight of Collins with bandages over his eyes was a sight he never wanted to see. "I glad to say that the landing wasn't to damaging, and I'm glad you're alive." "Thank you Commander," Collins saluted in what he hoped was the right direction. "I did my best to protect your ship" Jason walked over to Collins and hugged him.  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 06:05 Sector 7-3-1  
  
"You did a good job, and I'm sorry you had to lose your eyesight in the process." Jason guided Collins towards the command center. "I hope to mount a counter attack against the Zerg base, but first I want to have proper defence around the base, and my ship." Collins grinned weakly. "How may I help you sir?" Jason sat Collins in the briefing chair. "You may not be combat worthy old friend, but you can relay information though this briefing room. It will save me having to pull the plug on the stupid adjutant." Jason smiled briefly. "Thank you sir. I will not let you down, or let you pull the plug." Collins and Jason both laughed together. Jason left his First-mate in the briefing room, and walked outside.  
  
He walked over to the factory, and entered it. He walked over to the commanding officer of the facility and started talking. "Lieutenant, I want you to mass produce Goliaths and have them covering the Lightning. I don't want any Zerg near it, while it's on this planet." "Sir, yes, sir." The Lieutenant replied and started making the necessary arrangements to comply with Jason's orders. Jason left there, and asked Collins to call Captain Fawcett to his current position. Ten minutes later, the Captain came running up to him. "Sir, you called." The Captain said and saluted at the same time. "That I did. I want to mount a counter attack on the Zerg base. I'm going to need all the data your men can get for me." Jason spoke in a cold calm voice. "Sir, one step ahead of you. My men are already gathering intel about the base as we speak." Jason nodded; glad to hear that someone was still focused on the Zerg base.  
  
"Have you got anything for me Captain?" Jason asked, "Indeed I do. The adjutant is compiling my men's finding so far." Jason groaned, the adjutant was beginning to get on his nerves, never the less he needed to know as much as possible. Walking into the briefing room, Jason was Collins still seating in the chair with a cup of coffee. Another chair had been brought in for the Commander. Sitting down Collins looked up, a natural reaction, which did nothing for Collins, how he has lost his eyesight. "Commander, is that you?" "Yes Collins it's me. I'm here to listen to the stupid adjutant go on about the new findings." Collins cracked a smile, "Sorry to break it to you Commander, but ill be the one giving you the report. Me and the adjutant have been working together, and my memory is still very good Commander." Jason relaxed, at least with Collins Jason wouldn't have to worry with answering stupid questions, or respond to insane comments.  
  
"Then please begin Collins. I'm all ears." Collins crossed his legs and started reciting the report. "It appears that the Zerg are some how able to detect our cloaked troops or cloaked wraiths. This only seems to happen when one of these are around, a picture of a large floating creature appeared on the screen. It has been called the Overlord, and seems to be a vital creature to the Zerg. Not only can it detect cloaked units, it can also transport creatures in these sacks at the bottom. It is designed for space transportation as well. Some men have had the idea that this creature also may serve the same purpose as our supply depots, but we are still investigating this possibility." Jason looked at the Overlord on the screen. "How hard is it to kill?" "A good question, because it travels though space, it has some tough armour but if shot in the right places, can be killed easily."  
  
"What can you tell me about their base in general Collins?" Jason asked. "Quite simple really," Collins said, "They don't build building like we do, they grow them." "THEY WHAT?" Jason screamed. "Sorry, but how do they grow them?" Collins hadn't flinched. "They seem to operate like a hive sir, and everything is a separate creature, that has just evolved into something that helps the whole survive." Just great, Jason thought. "Their equivalent to our SVC's are what we're calling Drones. These simple breasts not only collect resources for the base, but also evolve into any structure they want." "And how long a process doe these evolutions take?" Jason asked. "That all depends on how big, and how complex the structure is. All the units for the Zerg are evolved from the Lava, as you've already seen. But there is one creature that has to evolve from another."  
  
"Oh, would that be a good thing or bad?" Collins looked like he was thinking, "That would depend where they're evolving. If they've evolving where we can shot them, then it's a good thing, as they can't attack while evolving, but deep behind enemy lines and its very bad." Jason shook his head. "Please tell me about these two then." Collins uncrossed his legs and sat up. "The first is the creature that we faced upon arriving in the sector. The 'C' shaped creature, which has been called a Mutalisk. When used with the Hydralisk, they are very deadly, both have medium body armour and both have the ability to attack land and air units. The difference is that the Mutalisk can attack three enemies at one time. It also moves faster than the Hydralisk as it doesn't have to slither on a tail, but instead it flies, obvious I know."  
  
"It's when the creature evolves that problems begin. Although the evolved version cannot attack air units, it can attack ground based units at long range and with deadly accuracy. The creature, which has been called the 'Guardian', also has a thicker armour that protects it better against our attacks. The main problem is the range of these creatures. To help compensate for this, the adjutant has come up with a new design called the Charon Booster Upgrade. This will allow the Goliaths missiles to be able to hit the Guardian at longer ranges. Also the gauss rifles have been upgraded with a new type of ammo called U-238 Shells. This will give them a slightly longer range." "Very good, Collins. I'm glad to see that you've been able to use the adjutant for something useful." Collins smiled at that comment. "I try my best sir." 


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Preparations  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-28, 13:31 Sector 4-9-4  
  
Captain Fawcett was observing the Zerg base. Commander Fisher was making preparations to build and army big and strong enough to destroy this base. It still made Fawcetts skin crawl watching how these Zerg produced there units and buildings. If left unchecked Fawcett was certain that the Zerg would soon over populate the planet. So far his ghost units have been picking off Zerg units from afar so that the Overlord creatures wouldn't detect them. They couldn't pick off units near the base, but the Zerg creatures that were on patrol duty, were easy to kill. Problem was there were always more of them, to replace what his ghost troops killed.  
  
"Captain Fawcett. This is First-Mate Collins." Fawcett lifted his arm up, so that he could see Collins face on his portable comms unit. "Fawcett here, Collins. How may I help you?" Fawcett replied. "You can't help me, but the Commander wants you to know that there are two mini-nukes available, and that just before the attack commences he wants you and your men to make sure that the Zerg are hit hard by our mini-nukes." Fawcett thought about this. If the nukes were landed into strategic positions, would wound the Zerg, hopefully enough for a successful attack.  
  
"Roger that Collins. Tell the Commander that my men will be ready, when the time comes." Collins face flickered out. "Sir," one of his ghost troops was running to his position. "What is it man?" Fawcett said, getting down of the ledge he was using to spy on the Zerg. "Sir, I have found a strange object that seems to be related to the Zerg." The ghost troop stopped running, and was breathing hard. "Take me there at once soldier. I want to see if, it can be used against the Zerg." After 20 minutes of running, Fawcett and his ghost trooper had arrived upon a high ledge. The ghost troop pointed down wards, to a strange looking object indeed.  
  
"It looked like a sort of centipede that was found on Earth, but a lot bigger and the legs were planted into the ground. Defence around it was heavier that at the base, and the Zerg units around it, seemed to be, for lack of a better word, pampering it. "It looks like you just found the hive leader soldier. If we survive this, you just earned a two day leave." The ghost trooper looked happy at this news. "Stay here and keep a careful watch over it. I'm going back to base to report this discovery to the Commander."  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-28, 14:02 Sector 7-3-1  
  
Jason now had three battalions of Marines, two battalions of Firebats, two battalions of Vultures, a battalion of Siege Tanks, and a battalion of Goliaths. He also had the two remaining Battlecruiser's and the remaining 56 Wraiths from the Lightning. He hoped that it would be enough to kill the Zerg. It did, thankfully, leave him with two battalions of Marines and half a battalion of Firebats, plus half a battalion of Goliaths to befend the base, and a battalion of Goliaths to defend the Lightning. Worst of all, out of all the troops he had mustered, only a small handful were not clones. Well clones or not, I need to but my hate for them behind, so I can win this war.  
  
Just then Captain Fawcett appeared next to him, and he looked out of breath. "Captain, what are you doing here? Your suppose to be watching the Zerg base!" Catching his breath, Fawcett replied. "I know sir. But one of my men made an important discovery. He has found what could most likely be the Zerg Hive leader." This made Jason recoil. The Topic had been brought up briefly, but Jason had dismissed it, as the likely hood of one, was very unlikely. "Give me the coordinates Captain. That has just become a target for one of the nukes. The other will still land in the Zerg base."  
  
Collins had just received the information on the new creatures, and him and the adjutant were working on the newfound data, and trying as best as possible to come up with a number of conclusions of what would happen if the creature was killed. Jason walked in a few minutes later and sat in the chair. "So what have you got for me Collins? Good news I hope." Collins stop conversing with the adjutant, which continued working. "Sir, it does appear that one of three things may happen when you kill the creature. One, after the creature is killed, the Zerg will go into a killing frenzy in revenge for the dead creature. Two, The Zerg will just mill around, not knowing what to do, attacking each other, or anything else that crosses their path, or three. They will become dormant and not do anything, with the creature to tell them what to do."  
  
"Sounds good to me, Collins. Thanks for the assist." Jason said. Jason sat there for a minute while Collins re-engaged the adjutant, and then got up, and walked out of the briefing room. Out side it was getting dark. The Sun was setting on the horizon and the third moon of the planet was beginning its circle of the sky. Looking around he could see that the Captain was still out with his troops, and that each battalion was still where he had left them. The next choice to be made was, did he want to attack the Zerg during nightfall, or wait for the morning? Jason wasn't sure. He didn't want to wait to long though, so as not to allow the Zerg to produce even more abominations.  
  
"Ok men. We're moving out." The troops and vehicles started to exit the base perimeter. While Jason sent a message to Captain Fawcett to launch the nukes on the Zerg. He then caught up with his army, and took up point position, to lead his men to 'victory'. 


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - Counter Attack  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-28, 17:10 Sector 4-9-4  
  
Captain Fawcett had just received the go ahead to commence with the mini- nuke attack. He had sent one of his ghosts to lock-on the large structure that was producing the lava, while he was locking-on to the centipede like creature. He activated the laser on his scope and set it upon the creature. Making sure his aim was perfect, he pressed a small button on his rifle, which would allow the mini-nuke to lock-on to the laser, and land where it was targeted. It would take ten minutes for the mini-nuke to arrive, and by that time, Fawcett would have another one and a half minutes to get out of the blast radius.  
  
After ten minutes, Fawcett could see the nuke starting its decent, and he turned around and ran for cover. There was a bright light and then it when quite. Fawcett creeped back up the ledge and peeped over the edge. The creature and everything around it, in a radius of 15 meters had been totally destroyed. The few Zerg outside the blast radius seemed to be dormant. Few where milling around, unsure of what to do. "Commander, Captain Fawcett here. It seems that the Zerg are now unsure of what to do." Fawcett called down his comms unit. A reply came back, "Good work Captain, stay there and finish what Zerg are left and then join us." The Commander replied.  
  
Setting his rifle along the ledge he started picking off the remaining Zerg. After killing three of the Zergs about, something caught the Captains eye. The remains of the creature were reforming! Reforming until the creature was completely grown again, and the zerg around it restarted what they were doing when the creature was blown up. "Oh dear lord, no. Commander!" Fawcett screamed down the comms unit. "What is it Captain? Im just about to attack the Zerg base here." The Commanders voice came over the comms unit. "The creature has just re-grown, and the Zerg are active again. Sir." "What! How is this possible Captain?"  
  
Fawcett didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry Commander. How or why it has happened is beyond me sir." "Stay there and do what you can, the main structure is down, and I am going to wipe these Zerg out. Then we'll decide what to do about that Thing. Commander out." The Commander didn't sound very happy. Damn, well orders are orders. Resetting his rifle, he started to take pot shots at everything that moved.  
  
Hizzan 6 2503-05-28, 17:23 Sector 4-9-2  
  
Well if nothing else the distraction of the creature being blown up, and killed for a brief time, made attacking the base easier. The Zerg there seemed to be amassing for an attack in the Captains area. "Ok, men attack!" Jason shouted as he ran forward, followed by hundreds of soldiers. Blasting away with his custom gauss rifle, he managed to kill two Hyrdalisks, and four Zerglings before the Zerg could retaliate. How it was their turn to be surprised as hundreds of Zerglings and Hydralisks borrowed up from the ground around them, killing two battalions of Marines, and some Firebats. Close combat insured after that, with the Firebats burning everything around them, while the Marines, Vultures, Goliaths, Siege tanks, and Jason pulled back to let the Firebats do their job. Jason ordered the Siege tanks to deploy, and start bombarding the base.  
  
He turned back around to see how the Firebats were doing when a Zergling jumped at him. It had almost hit his head when a well placed shot form a nearby-cloaked ghost shot it in the air. "Thank soldier. Cover us, were going back in" Jason commanded the ghost while him and the rest of them charged back into the fry. The Firebats had got the Zergs that had surprised them, but with heavy casualties. "Ok, all Wraiths and Battlecruiser's, engage the enemy bases air defence, then take out the Zerg droids. I don't want them replacing that lost structure." Jason commanded, and then the Wraiths started to fly overhead and take down what Mutalisks and flat shaped creatures there were around the base. Jason couldn't see any Scourges around, and he wondered why, or if they didn't think they'd need them. After all the Zerg fleet in space was suppose to of taken out all his fleet.  
  
Jason ducked and rolled just in time, as a Hydralisk tried to shoot him. The Hydralisk was shoot down by two ghost units. Seems I have some guardian angels protecting me today, Jason thought to himself. Looking around, he could see that most of the base was destroyed by cannon fire from the Siege tanks, and that his troops were cleaning up what little resistant was left. It shouldn't be this easy, thought Jason, not after what they did to the base. Standing up and walking over to a nearby ghost unit, he said, "Hey, shouldn't there be more of the bastards?" the ghost looked at him. "The Captain has just radioed in. A large column of Zerg troops have just passed the creature thing, and are heading to our base. He's trying to slow them down for us Commander." "Holy shit, Men, were moving out. Lets get them." Jason ordered his troops to give chase to the large Zerg column, that was converging on his base.  
  
Jason and his men were running as fast as possible, leaving the Siege tanks, and Battlecruiser's behind. The Vultures and Wraiths were flying of ahead to help the Captain out. They rounded a bend and came across the large masses of Zerg creatures progressing along. The Wraiths were having trouble with the air defence and were in cloaked mode, trying to avoid getting hit, and taking pot shots when ever possible. The Vultures were lying destroyed in front of them, and the remaining large elephant like creatures that had survived the engagement with the Vultures now charged at them. Opening fire, the large creatures when down under the fire form the remaining Marines, and Firebats. The Goliaths had just arrived around the corner and opened fire as soon as they noticed the creatures closing in.  
  
The creatures fell and the rest of the Zerg column decided that they were now a fret, and opened fire on them. Captain Fawcett appeared by Jason then, and said, "I thought you might need a hand." Grinning he turned back to the advancing army of Zerg and opened fire. Quick lived was his smile as a good shot from a Hydralisk sent a spine though his heart. Fawcett looked at it, then at the Commander. "I'm s.." That's all he said before falling to the ground, in a lump. "You're going to pay for that you BASTARDS!" Jason screamed at the advancing Zerg and opened fire cutting down Zergling and Hydralisks that got in the way of his gauss fire. The Firebats were in front of him now, so he had to aim more carefully, so as not to hit is own troops, the remaining Marines, beside him, cutting down the Zergs where they stood. At that point the Battlecruiser's arrived and started devastating the remaining Zerg air units that were giving the remaining Wraiths trouble.  
  
After half an hour the Zerg column was dead. But with heavy loses on Jasons behalf. Not only had he lost the vast majority of his troops, but he had lost a close friend too. Turning the remaining troops around, the came across the Siege tanks that had been to slow to engage in combat. "Follow us, I've got a special job for you." Jason said to the Siege tanks. They arrived back to the Creature that had come back to life. Ordering the Siege tanks to setup around it. Their job from now on would be to kill it continuously until it wouldn't come back to life. Returning to the, it was time for Jason to relax and wait for his ship to be repaired, then off home.  
  
THE END 


End file.
